by Kaley Colter
Novum Energy
A Recipe for Passion
Ellie Matthews is a painfully shy caterer whose life has devolved since she was a teenager, when her mother died and her father abandoned her following his remarriage. She was left with no one but her controlling, manipulative stepbrother, Marcus, who has treated her like his personal slave ever since.
Now, Ellie is desperate to get out from under Marcus’s thumb. When she arrives at the engineering firm Novum Energy for a catering job, Nick Richardson, the president of the company, is all too aware of Ellie’s exploitation at the hands of her stepbrother. He is determined to help her and keep her safe. But more than that, he is determined to make her his. And he can only hope that he will be able to help her overcome her past and convince her that she belongs to him—body, heart, and soul.
Genre: Contemporary
Length: 33,406 words
A RECIPE FOR PASSION
Novum Energy
Kaley Colter
EROTIC ROMANCE
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Erotic Romance
A RECIPE FOR PASSION
Copyright © 2014 by Kaley Colter
E-book ISBN: 978-1-62741-653-5
First E-book Publication: April 2014
Cover design by Harris Channing
All art and logo copyright © 2014 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
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DEDICATION
To my husband, who has never stopped supporting my ambition to write.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
About the Author
A RECIPE FOR PASSION
Novum Energy
KALEY COLTER
Copyright © 2014
Chapter 1
Calm yourself, girl.
Ellie Matthews looked down at the platters of food she was carrying, took a deep breath, straightened her back, and walked into the conference room. The meeting was apparently over, as everybody was chatting casually and leaning back in their chairs. For that, she was very thankful, because if she had walked into that room in the middle of the meeting and everybody had stopped and turned their heads to stare at her like some kind of intruder, she probably would’ve had a heart attack and fallen right down on the floor.
As she walked towards the center table, she tried her very best to avoid making eye contact with anyone, which turned out to be exceptionally difficult given the fact that she could feel several pairs of eyes staring straight at her. She cringed, knowing they were all looking her up and down. Appraising her. Determining her worth. And, of course, everybody in the room just had to be a man. There wasn’t a single woman—not one potential ally that could deflect some of the testosterone.
Why aren’t there more women in engineering? Somebody should really do something about that.
She quickly set the platters down on the table, then spun around, reminded herself that it might be inappropriate to break into a run, and walked out of the room with what she proudly considered to be a very reasonable speed. As soon as she was through the doorway and out of sight, she leaned against the wall and sighed in relief, reaching up to touch her cheeks and knowing from how warm they were that she must look extremely flushed. She winced when she thought of how all those engineers must see her—a shy little caterer who couldn’t help but blush every time she’s in their presence.
She was shy—she would give them that. But that didn’t mean she was a coward. In fact, she liked to think that she was rather feisty. A couple of her friends in high school had even called her scrappy, and she had very proudly borne that label ever since. And besides, she had never even met any of these hotshot engineers before. This was her first time catering for Novum Energy. Maybe if they hired her again, she would be more confident. Maybe they’d all take back what they initially thought of her and be amazed at how calm, cool, and collected she was. Maybe she wouldn’t even blush.
Doubt it.
Ellie sighed and made her way back to the office kitchen. When she saw her partner standing there waiting for her, clearly displeased, she smoothed her fingers over the black apron tied around her waist and tried to prepare herself for whatever complaint was coming.
“Christ, Ellie, what took you so long? It’s not that difficult of a task. You walk to the conference room. You set the platters down. You come back.”
Ellie gritted her teeth. She had to work very, very hard to restrain herself from calling him a bastard and telling him to go to hell. The unfortunate fact of the matter was that she needed him. He had paid for all the catering supplies and found them the client. That was the deal. He would set her up with the equipment she needed and advertise their business, she would prepare the food, and he
would give her a cut of the money. And she needed the money. So for that reason, a mental image of decking him in the face would have to do.
“Look, Marcus, I waited outside for a minute or two because I wasn’t sure that the meeting was over. I didn’t want to interrupt. Because, I don’t know, that would be rude.”
“It doesn’t matter, Ellie. I don’t pay you to think about what would be a polite time to give the clients their food. I pay you to give them their food when I tell you to give them their food. The client requested that the food be brought into the conference room at noon. So that’s what you do. Stop being so goddamn stubborn and do what you’re told.”
Ellie dug her fingernails into her palms, furious. “Why don’t you just deliver the food yourself, then?”
Marcus folded his arms over his chest and smiled. “Because you are part of the service. My clients will come to expect their food to be delivered to them by a decent-looking woman. I like to think that they’ll appreciate it as a display of traditional gender roles. You’re the woman. You serve the food. It’s that simple.”
Ellie looked down at herself. She was wearing a red, satiny dress that fell to her mid thighs and showed an uncomfortable amount of cleavage.
“So that’s why you have me wearing this ridiculous dress?”
He smirked. “Correct.”
“I’m not a piece of meat, Marcus.”
“Oh, I beg to differ. Not the best-looking piece of meat, but a piece of meat nonetheless.”
Ellie swallowed hard and willed herself to hold back her tears.
Hold yourself together. Do not let him see you cry.
She grabbed her sweater and threw it around her shoulders. “Well, now that I’ve delivered the food I hope I’m allowed to put on a sweater and go to the bathroom.”
“Fine, go,” he said, flicking his hand at her contemptuously. “But you better be sure to return to ‘uniform’ when you go back in to collect the trays.”
Ellie rushed out of the room and sped down the hall, biting her lip to keep the tears at bay. With her arms wrapped around her chest and her eyes turned down, she raced around the corner, only to bump into someone and fall on the floor. In a bit of a daze, she remained frozen on the ground for a few seconds before lifting her head to look up at the person she ran into.
Oh my God. You’ve got to be kidding me.
Looking down at her was one of the most intimidating and sinfully gorgeous men she had ever seen. Everyone was tall compared to her five-foot frame, but he was really tall. Like, over six feet tall. He had a scruffy-looking beard and wavy brown hair that fell below his ears, features that seemed all the more intimidating when paired with the sleek, expensive dress pants and shirt he was wearing. Looking up tentatively into his face, she was surprised to find how kind it appeared, despite all the rough angles of his jaw line, cheekbones, and nose. And after summoning the courage to look straight into his eyes, she was amazed at all the beauty and benevolence to be found in those pale green irises.
But then Ellie’s brain started fully functioning again. And recognition hit. Her heart jumped into her throat as she remembered Marcus telling her about the very large, very gruff-looking man who had hired them. Ellie’s face paled. This was him. She had just slammed into the president of Novum Energy.
Chapter 2
Nick looked down at the woman on the ground in front of him and couldn’t help but smile at how adorable she was. She was clearly terrified, staring up at him with endearingly wide eyes and taking quick, shallow breaths between her parted pink lips.
When he bent down to help her up, he noticed her flinch very slightly away. He smiled gently and supposed he had underestimated how frightened she was, thinking that perhaps he should approach her like he would a stray kitten.
“It’s okay, sweetheart, let me help you up.”
He caught himself moving to put an arm under her legs and around her back and realized that she would probably try and scramble away if he lifted her into his arms. And he wasn’t supposed to lift her into his arms, anyways. In fact, he was unsure of where that impulse had come from, and wondered why it would not leave him.
He offered her his hand instead, and watched as she hesitantly slipped her tiny fingers into his palm. He rubbed his thumb over her soft skin reassuringly before placing his other hand at her lower back and lifting her off the ground.
After making sure she was settled, Nick took a step back and looked down at her. She was a beautiful woman. Big brown eyes, plush lips, and long dark hair that fell in soft waves down her back. Having her stand before him also made him realize how small she was, which probably explained why she had collapsed into a heap on the floor and he hadn’t even lost his balance. She didn’t even reach his shoulders, and, after taking a quick glance at her footwear, he realized that she would be a good deal shorter without the high heels.
He watched as she pulled her sweater tighter around herself, emphasizing the gorgeous shape of her small, upturned breasts and the enticing curve of her waist and hips. His groin tightened. He could tell that her breasts would fit perfectly into his hands.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
He felt his heart break into pieces at the sadness in her voice and smiled at her tenderly. “No need to be sorry, sweetheart. I was the one who knocked you on the floor. Are you okay?”
She nodded, her eyes downcast.
“You’re our new caterer, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” she answered, squinting at him in confusion. “How did you know?”
Nick laughed. “Women are few and far between in this office. It was a guess. And Marcus told me that his partner was a woman. Your name is Ellie, is that right?”
She nodded. “Yes. And you…you’re the president of the company, aren’t you?”
“Yes. Nick Richardson. Pleased to meet you,” he said, smiling and extending his hand.
Ellie blushed and slid her hand into his. “Pleased to meet you too, Mr. Richardson.”
“It’s Nick, please. And I’m glad I ran into you. I want to talk to you about catering for us again. I just came from the conference room and the guys are devouring the food. They have nothing but the highest praise,” he said, delighted to see her eyes light up at the mention of her food.
“Really?” she asked, smiling bashfully. “That would be wonderful. What days were you thinking of?”
“Why don’t you come with me into my office and I’ll give you a calendar of the dates I’d like to have you back.”
He placed a hand lightly on her lower back and guided her down the hall into his office. After seating himself behind his expansive mahogany desk, he watched as she stood dry-washing her hands and darting her eyes nervously around the room. For a moment he almost gave in to the impulse to grab her into his lap and fold her against his chest and soothe her fears away, but he forced himself to focus, grabbing an empty calendar grid and marking the days he hoped to have her back. In truth, he really didn’t need a caterer for most of the days he was marking down, and although he tried to convince himself that he was hiring Ellie because better lunches might boost worker morale, he knew that he was really driven by the desire to see her again. He handed her the calendar and smiled broadly as he saw a look of pure joy spread across her face.
“I can’t believe you want us back for all of these days! We’ve never had so much business before,” she squealed, reeling with happiness.
Nick had left his office door open, and as he watched Ellie’s face light up with an adorable smile, he saw someone rushing past his door and stopping abruptly when he caught sight of the two of them inside. It was Marcus, the man he had hired for the catering job, and he appeared to be in nothing short of a rage as he launched himself through the doorway and stormed over to his partner.
“Ellie! What the hell are you doing in the president’s office?” Marcus yelled angrily. “I’m so sorry, sir. She’s really got to work on her manners. She has a very big listening problem.”
&nb
sp; Nick looked furiously at Marcus as he strode over to Ellie and glared down at her. He had a very mean-looking face, which, Nick realized, was nearly diametrically opposite to his own. Marcus had close-cut blond hair and a clean-shaven face with refined, almost delicate features. And Nick knew just from the look of him that, while Marcus had no problem terrorizing those who were weaker than him, he would be an absolute coward in a fair fight.
“She’s very sorry,” Marcus said to Nick. “Come along now, Ellie,” he snapped, grabbing her upper arm and dragging her behind him out of the room.
Nick was enraged. He could see that Marcus’s grip on her arm was painful, and it horrified him that this monster had somehow gotten Ellie under his thumb and could treat her however he damn well pleased.
“Marcus,” Nick said, his voice menacingly quiet. “Let go of her arm.” When Marcus simply stared at him, surprised, Nick slowly stood up from his chair and folded his arms across his chest. “Now.”
“But, sir, she works for me, and I’m just trying to get her to follow orders so that we can provide a better service for our clients.”
“If you don’t let go of her arm right now, then I’ll have to come over there and assist you in doing so.” Marcus instantly dropped her arm. “I don’t care if she works for you. We don’t treat women like that here. And if I know you endorse that kind of behaviour, then I’m going to have to reconsider hiring you back.”
Nick wished he hadn’t needed to make that threat, because he saw Ellie’s face turn heartbreakingly sad at the prospect of losing him as a client. But the threat did have its desired effect on Marcus, because when he caught sight of the calendar Ellie was holding in her hands, his face paled at the amount of business at stake.